Save Me
by SynObsession
Summary: The Guys of Avenged Sevenfold are assassins, but so much goes wrong... Can Nikki save Brian from himself. Synyster Gates story. Songfic: Save Me, by A7X. SG/OC
1. Introduction

My Original Characters:

Nikki

Age: 17

Hair color: Black

Eye color: Electric Blue

Boyfriend/ fiance: Brian Haner

Dannyy's twin

Dannyy

Age: 17

Hair color: Black

Eye color: Brown

Boyfriend: Matt Sanders

Nikki's twin sister

Veronica

The ghost that haunts the beach where Nikki and Dannyy live. Johnny was always afraid of the beach because of her. She is said to be very beautiful but also has a Glasgow smile carved into her face.

And then the boys of Avenged Sevenfold (which I obviously do not own but I wish I did):

Brian Haner: aka Synyster Gates; Nikki's boyfriend.

Age: 17

Matt Sanders: aka M. Shaddows; Dannyy's boyfriend.

Age: 17

Zack Baker: aka Zacky Vengeance; Brian's worst enemy.

Age: 17

Jimmy Sullivan: aka The Rev; Nikki and Brian's Black Ops commander.

Age: 27

Johnny Seward: aka Johnny Christ (not much to say about him, cuz he's only in there for a second).

Age: 13

A little side note: Most things are explained in chapter 2, but to help out a little bit.

-All of them are assassins (excluding Johnny and Veronica)

-I wrote this story for different characters but then decided to change it to A7X. Thats why some parts of it may sound strange. Also this was the ended to that story but I never finished the middle of it.


	2. Chapter 1: Shattered

**Chapter 1**

**Shattered**

I sat at the kitchen counter, attempting to fix my magnum which had been jammed for months. The doorbell rang so I dropped my gun on the counter and made my way through the house to the door. I looked out the peephole and to my surprise, Matt stood there, in a bloodstained uniform, staring at the ground. I quickly unlocked the door and opened it.

"The commander sent me here to-"

I looked around Matt and behind him, searching for Brian but he was nowhere to be found.

I panicked. "Wait… Where's Brian? What's going on, Matt? Why's there blood on your uniform!"

Matt finally looked at me. He had several cuts, scrapes, and bruises on his face and tears in his eyes. A single tear rolled down his face.

"Princess Nicole, the commander sent me here to inform you that your fiancé, Prince Brian, was killed in action yesterday." He spoke as though he was reading off a cue-card; it sounded very monotone like a recording and sort of like his mind was somewhere else.

It took a few seconds for this to register with me.

_Brian was gone forever. My reason for living is gone forever…_

It felt as though something had broken inside of me. Something that made me want to fall to my knees and cry like a child. Almost like an invisible bullet had gone though my chest, leaving me shattered inside.

Matt knelt before me. "It's all my fault! I should've stopped him." He was barely understandable because his voice kept cracking in between words. "We were told to evacuate a building of civilians because it was loaded with C4 bombs. But right before it was about to blow, Brian went back in to find the commander and the building blew before Bri could get out... I should have stopped him from going in... It's all my fault!"

I whipped the tears from my face and whispered, "It's not your fault... Brian just happens to be that type of heroic idiot... But, I guess, if he wasn't like that then I'd have been dead a long time ago..."

I dropped to my knees and silently cried in Matt's arms. I felt like time had frozen and nothing mattered anymore. The whole world could have disappeared at any moment and I would have never known.

My trance was broken by a gentle tap on my back. I turned around and there stood Jimmy with open arms. Matt let go of me; I slid into Jimmy's arms. Jim was silent and so was Matt; it was almost like they knew I didn't want to hear any words of sympathy because word meant nothing to me. Words won't bring Brian back.

I had no idea what to do after Jimmy and Matt left so I wandered down to the beach to visit my _favorite_ ghost. Veronica sat next to me on the beach as I explained the story to her.

She put her arm around me and said, "You know I'm not too fond of men, because of my _late_ husband, but Brian was one of the best guys I've ever come across. He did make a few mistakes but everyone does…" She paused, finally realizing that she was just making me cry even more. "Don't think of it as a 'good bye forever', it's more of a long 'see you later'."

Johnny came running down on the beach he once feared with what looked like a bouquet of flowers in his hand. He skidded to a halt in front of us.

"Nikki," he said while trying to catch his breath. "Some guy in a dark cloak gave this to me and told me to take it to you." He handed me the bouquet. "What's going on, Nikki?"

I examined the bouquet as Veronica told Johnny what happen. It was a bouquet of 11 black roses and 1 teal rose in the middle, all held together by a black ribbon with a note attached to it. The note read:

**I love you.**

I could recognize that writing anywhere. It was Brian's beautiful script handwriting.

"Johnny!" I said interrupting her. "Did you by any chance see the man's face?"

Johnny scratched the back of his head. "No, he had his hood up, but he did have a really old, deep voice… And I'm really sorry about Brian." He had tears in his eyes.

_Old, deep voice… _It can't be Bri… I didn't want to accept the fact that he was gone for good, never to come back…

It had been 3 days since I got the 'news', but something strange was going on that was very noticeable. Every morning when I wake up, I find a black rose with a black ribbon tied around it just like the ones that made up the bouquet Johnny brought me.

Dannyy barged into the room. "Are you forgetting something?" she asked. I looked at her with a blank face. I'd been so puzzled over the black roses that I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing.

She shook her head. "Today's the funeral;" she said softly, "Your dress is over there." She pointed over at a chair where a black dress and pump heels had been laid. She left the room so I could get dressed.

Dannyy teleported us to the cemetery, which was filled with people who I had no idea who they were. It was pouring rain so she and I watched the ceremony from afar. I didn't want to approach Mrs. Haner for fear of somehow being blamed for Brian's death. Mrs. Haner didn't seem like the type to do that but I kind of felt like it was my fault in some way.

Right as they lowered Brian's empty coffin in to the ground, Dannyy and I were approached by the last person I'd ever want to see on a day like this, our 'Mother'.

"I'm _so_ sorry for your loss," she said sarcastically, "Even though we all know it was your fault…"

Dannyy quickly pulled out the pistol she had strapped to her thigh under her dress and raised it to our 'mother's' head.

"Just shut the hell up! It wasn't Nikki's fault at all! How would you like it if someone blamed you for dad's mysterious death? 'Cuz I have all the evidence to prove you murdered him!"

Dannyy would've continued but I put my hand on her gun lowered it.

"Dannyy," I said in tears, "Don't. It's not worth it and besides, she has a point. It's all my fault."

With that, our 'mother' walked away with a smug smile.

"What're you talking about?" Dannyy asked.

I shook my head. She knew I wasn't planning on answering her question. So, she nodded and went to find Matt.

The ceremony ended and everyone, including Dannyy and Matt, left.

I stood in the rain by myself and stared at the grave. Suddenly, the rain stopped. I looked up and there was Jimmy holding the umbrella over me. I leaned into Jimmy's arms and sobbed into his chest.

"It's all my fault, isn't it? Bri's gone because I failed on the last assignment. You remember, right? The one that Zacky sabotaged… Don't you get it, Jimmy! It's my fault!"

I looked up at Jimmy who was smiling. "Your just saying that because your mother said that; we all know it wasn't anyone's fault. You blame yourself and Matt blames himself… Hell, I could even say it was my fault if I wanted to… Do you get what I'm trying to say? It's no one's fault…" Jim paused and averted his gaze to the black rose in my hand. "I kind of have this strange feeling that Brian's not gone; like he's still out there somewhere…"

Jimmy took of his suit jacket and put it on my shoulders.

I let go of Jimmy and knelt down in front of the grave. I traced the words with my fingers and then laid the black rose on the top of the grave.

A hot shower felt so great on a day like this. I stood there, water running through my hair, puzzled over what Jimmy had said…

_ I kind of have this strange feeling that Brian's not gone; like he's still out there somewhere…_

Those words ran through my head over and over again. I wanted them to be true.

I slowly got out of the shower, dried off, and put jeans and a t-shirt on. I hung my towel on the rack and opened the door. Dannyy lay on her bed, reading _Betrayed_. The second I laid down on mine, my cell phone started ringing. To my surprise a black rose had been laid on top of it. Not bothering to look who it was, I answered it.

"Hello?" I said, twirling the rose in my fingers.

"Nikki?" said a voice that would be impossible for me not to recognize. "I know you probably don't know what to say but can you meet me at the usual spot? I have something important to tell you." He then hung up.

Dannyy saw my surprised face.

"Who was that?" she asked, sitting up.

"B-B-Bri…" I couldn't manage to get his name out. "Brian…" I finally said, "He told me to meet him under the cherry blossom tree…"

"W-wait, don't go! It's a…" I didn't catch the last word because I teleported too soon.

It was pouring rain here just like it had been at the cemetery. Drops fell from the leaves of the cherry blossom tree onto my already wet hair. I stopped staring at the tree and averted my gaze to the man that stood before me. Brian had his Black Ops uniform on, his usually messy spiky hair had been flattened down by the rain, and a black rose, identical to the one I had, in his hand. He smiled at me.

Without saying a word, he held open his arms and I ran to him.

"Brian," I sobbed into his chest. "Why did Matt tell me you were dead? Your funeral was today, you know that, right?"

I looked up at his still smiling face.

"That's because I _am_ dead," he whispered.

I had no idea what just happened. I looked down and saw the end Brian's black bladed katana protruding from my chest. Brian kissed my forehead and whispered, "Pride."

I fell to the ground temporarily paralyzed, unable to move. I couldn't feel anything, no pain or even the rain falling on me.

Knowing that he could hear everything I was thinking, I thought what I wanted to say.

_ What are you doing, Brian? Why?_

He looked back at me with a serious face. "All is fair in love and war… and this just happens to be both."


	3. Chapter 2: Save Me

**Chapter 2**

**Save Me**

"Brian!" I whispered as I sat up, wondering where I was. The room looked like Dannyy's and my room at home but without all the weapons and pieces of guns scattered all over the place.

Dannyy opened door and asked, "You feeling okay? Remember, today's your first day back…"

My chest ached and my wrist throbbed, but I wasn't planning on telling her that. I was still trying to figure out what she was talking about.

"Oh," she sighed, "It's one of those days, isn't it… Well let's see, what was the last thing you told me? That's right Matt told you Brian had died. So what happened now?"

"Brian's not dead and he came back and he… killed me…" I paused. "But what do you mean by 'it's one of those days'?"

She tossed me a uniform. "I'll explain while you get dressed."

I put on the uniform while she explained.

"Three months ago, our family was in a car accident, a really bad one… It was a little past midnight and our parents came to pick us up from Zack's party. It was really dark out and dad was driving. Dad asked you to get he's jacket from the back seat; so you unbuckled your seat belt to get it but right at that moment we were unexpectedly hit by a speeding drunk driver. Mom and dad were killed instantly, but you... um… were really close to dying… All those scars you have are from broken glass and where that gauze is on your chest, a big piece of went through you." The gauze matched the spot where Brian's katana had gone through. "And then you're wrist…" She pointed at my bandaged wrist. "It was shattered and still isn't completely healed so try not to move it too much… And the reason why you can't remember any of this because…" She moved my hair out of my face to reveal a long scar stretching from my cheek, the corner of my eye, and across to the corner of my forehead. The scar I remembered getting during the Black Ops exam, "You hit your head really hard…"

I examined my uniform in the mirror; a short gray skirt, long-sleeve button-up white shirt, and a teal and gray striped tie. "What about you?"

"Just cuts from glass, that's all… so come on, this is your first day back since the accident. Everyone wants to see you, even if you don't remember them, and we're already late for first period."

She grabbed my not hurt hand and led me out of the apartment. Our school was a couple blocks away. By the time we got there, we had already missed first period but we were just in time for second. We walked into the classroom, which happened to be math.

The teacher greeted us, "It's good to see you today Dannyy, and great to see you back Nikki." He held out his hand for me to shake it but then drop it after seeing my bandaged hand. "Dannyy told me all about it so you probably don't remember me. I'm Mr. Sullivan, but I'm also your Uncle Jimmy. I'm really sorry about your parents…" He was cut off by the bell ringing. He motioned for us to get to our seats.

"Today, class, we welcome back Miss Nikki; and also a new transfer student, Brian Haner."

My eyes bolted from staring at my desk to Brian. He looked exactly like the Brian from my 'other' world; same messy black hair, and chocolate brown eyes. He wore the school uniform; gray pants, long-sleeved button-up white shirt, and a teal and gray striped tie, that matched mine.

Jimmy turned to Brian. "The seat next to Nikki is empty so why don't you sit there."

Brian made his way to the seat next to me. He dropped his backpack next to his desk, and turned to me.

"Hi, I'm Brian," he smiled.

I ignored him liked I didn't hear him. Dannyy, who sat behind him, tapped him on the back and whispered, "Don't mind her, she's my sister and she's been kinda… out of it lately."

I ignored him for the whole class pretending to focus on class work. I knew nothing about math, but the answers just came to me. The bell rang and I hurried to avoid Brian but somehow get Dannyy alone.

I called Dannyy over away from the crowd.

"Is something wrong?" she asked as she approached me.

"That was Brian…That's the Brian from my 'other' world. You know all about him, don't you?"

"I only know what you've told me… You met him at a baseball game… he's your Black Ops partner and I set you guys up on our 13th birthday. You fell in love with him, and he asked you to marry you on his 17th birthday… He and Matt got sent off to war; Matt came back 6 months later and told you Brian died…" she said that all so quick it was hard to understand her.

I continued where she left off. "We went to his funeral and the he came back and… killed me…"

"But, that was in your '_other_' world. This Brian may have the same name and look the same but that's not him. This guy's a completely different person," Dannyy gripped my shoulders; I could see it in her eyes that she was serious.

"Today's just not a good day, is it?" I asked with tears coming to my eyes.

Dannyy gave a faint smiled. "We haven't had a good day in while… Maybe it'll get better one of these days."

Dannyy smiled the same way as she did in the 'other' world. She only smiled with her mouth not with her eyes. Her eyes always told me she knew something- something terrible- but it was something she couldn't tell me. She still had that same look even in this world.

The final bell rang and the school was almost empty. I'd finally made it to my locker and rummaged through my backpack for my locker keys. When I finally got it open, I emptied my books in it. I looked into the little mirror on my locker door; I loosened my tie and unbuttoned the top 3 buttons on my shirt. Not happy with how it looked, I slammed my locker shut. To my surprise, Brian had been behind the locker door the whole time. He leaned against the lockers staring at the sky. I surprised him when I slammed the locker and he jumped.

He turned to me. "Uh, I thought I'd introduce myself, since I sat next to you in every class but you ignored me all day; but anyway… uh… Hi, I'm Brian Haner."

He held out his hand for me to shake it but waited a few seconds and then noticed my bandaged hand. I quickly hid my hand behind my back and moved my hair into my face. He was staring down at something and it took me a few seconds to realize what… My shirt was low enough to show the gauze.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you? I mean your wrist, and chest, and that scar on your forehead." Brian moved the hair out of face revealing my scar to the whole world; it felt that way though there was no one around.

"Car accident…" I answered quickly and walked quickly away from him. He persisted in following me so I broke into a run. It wasn't long before I fell to my knees, my chest burning and coughing like crazy.

Brian knelt down next to me. "You okay?" he asked, "I didn't mean to scare you or anything? But seriously you don't look so good!" He looked so worried, even though he just met me.

"I'm perfectly fine," I said as he helped me to my feet.

"So," he said walking beside me, "I'm guessing that was a pretty bad accident…"

I examined my wrist, which still hurt even with the tiniest of movement. "I can't really say. I don't remember any of it at all… Amnesia… I can't remember anything prior to today… I woke up this morning and Dannyy had to explain everything. It was a speeding drunk driver, according to her. Our parents were killed in the crash; I don't remember them at all so I can't really say I miss them."

We walked in silence for a few minutes; finally Brian broke the silence. "I kinda feel like I've met you before."

I didn't know how to answer. I had met him before; more than just met, I fell in love with him. Thinking about it now makes me realize I still am in love with him… Not just the 'other' Brian, but this Brian too. But that's not the answer I could give him; he'd think I'm crazy and never want to see me again. So I made something up.

"Uh… I can't really say the same…"

He scratched the back of his head, thinking really hard. "I remember a girl that looked just like you… But maybe I'm wrong."

I made up another lie. "I still don't remember… then, again, I can't remember anything…" I lightly tapped the side of my head. "So, why'd you move here, anyway?" I tried to change the subject to something that I didn't have to lie about.

"Uh, let's see, where do I start?" he asked himself. "My mom's a doctor and my dad's a CEO of some big company. They don't have time for me. And it was my mom's suggestion that I move out here. She's all like, 'Honey, you don't seem very happy around here. Maybe you should leave and go somewhere where you can be happy'." Brian imitated his mother's voice. "They just want me out of their lives. They don't care if I'm happy or not… But whatever, I'm free now, which is great. I get to be normal this time."

"What do you mean by 'normal'?" I asked because there could be a couple different meanings; normal as in 'not an assassin' normal, or 'not being seen as strange or crazy' normal.

"Well, since my parents are rich they made me go to the formal parties with them which were dead boring; and all of my so-called friends were just my _friends_ because they wanted my money. But that's the best thing about moving here; a fresh start. And no one knows about this except for you. But I trust you." He smiled at me. The same exact smile as the 'other' Bri; the smile I love and have loved for years.

We'd finally made it to the apartment.

"You didn't have to walk me home… I'm okay, really," I said quickly as he held the door open for me.

"I actually live here, too." He pushed the up button on the elevator, and then leaned against the wall. "But I probably would've walked you home anyway, just because…" The elevator had gotten here, we stepped in.

"What floor?" Bri asked.

"19."

He pushed the button for 19 and the one for 20.

For some random reason, Brian laughed. "You're really cute, you know that?"

I blushed and after seeing me, he blushed too.

The elevator opened to my floor. I waved goodbye to Brian and exited the elevator. It closed behind me. I leaned, with my back against the wall, regretting what I just did. Brian complimented me and all I could do was blush and wave goodbye? Am I stupid or something?

Suddenly, the elevator door opened again. Brian came out smiling. He leaned against the wall, next to me.

"Okay," I had to set one of my many lies today straight, "You're gonna think I'm crazy for this but I lied…" He pretended to be surprised. "I have met you before… you were in my dreams last night… Sounds crazy, right? That's why I avoided you all day… And by the way, you're pretty handsome too."

"I don't think you're crazy," he whispered into my ear. He kissed my scarred forehead and then said, "See you tomorrow, love…" he walked back to the open elevator.

When I walked into the apartment, I was interrogated by Dannyy because she saw the whole thing.

"What happened to 'he's the one that killed me'?" she demanded.

"Well, you were right, that's what happened," I said sitting down on my bed. "He isn't the Brian that killed me… The Brian that killed me wasn't my Bri. This Brian is the real Bri I remember."

"You're talking nonsense again," she said annoyed.

"Do you really expect me to be perfectly sane if I can't remember anything but memories of my 'other' world? They're all I know and all I can relate to. I'm completely lost in this world, in case you haven't noticed!" What's her problem, I thought. The one good thing about this world is we can't hear what each other are thinking.

Dannyy sat down next to me, calming down a little. "I'm sorry, Nikki. I just don't really know what it's like knowing everything about one world and nothing about the real one you live in… I guess it must be a big relief seeing a familiar face from 'that' world who acts exactly the same." She smiled, but it was her smile from the 'other' world, her lips smiled but not her eyes.

"It's fine, and yeah, it really is great to see people I remember… You, Brian, and Jimmy, too, all of you guys look and act the same as in the 'other' world. It really makes me wonder which world is real; this one or the 'other' one. Everything I know is about the 'other' world; I kinda think that this is all a dream and the 'other' world is real…" I trailed off, deep in thought.

_It's just a dream. I'm really an assassin and I'm engaged to a prince named Brian. I live on the beach with my twin sister, Dannyy. My father was murdered by my mother and she hates me. Jimmy, my commander, is like a father to me; and I befriended a ghost that haunts the beach and has a Chelsea smile. My fiancée, Brian, is also my partner and has saved me many times. _

I said that over and over to myself, almost like I was willing it to be true. I repeated it until I fell asleep.

Brian stood in front of me, katana unsheathed with the sinister smile as the time he stabbed me at training because of mind control, and Zacky Baker standing next to him. Zack was Brian's worst enemy, although Brian hated anyone that hurt me, he hated Zacky more than the rest of them because Zack danced with me, tried to kill me, and then sabotaged our mission.

Zack held up my favorite magnum and handed it to Brian. Brian pointed it at me and slowly pulled the trigger.

"Brian!" I screamed.

I opened my eyes and saw Brian standing over me. He jumped back surprised by my sudden scream.

'_What the hell, was it just a dream?_' was the first thing that popped into my head.

Brian raised an eyebrow at me and asked, "Do you remember me, love?"

I sat up slowly and looked around, my body ached and my head throbbed just like yesterday. No weapons or pieces on the ground which meant I wasn't in the 'other' world.

"Yeah," I answered, "You're Brian Haner, the new student from yesterday, and you live on the floor above us… But why are you in my room?"

Brian smiled, holding up a blue folder. "Homework from today."

I was completely confused. "But, wait, what do you mean? School hasn't even started… Why would I have homework already?"

He looked around the room and pointed at my alarm clock, 5:16PM. "Dannyy said you had a really high fever when she went to wake you up this morning, so she figured it was better to let you sleep."

I sighed and ran my fingers through my bed-head hair, a little surprised that he wasn't laughing at my messy hair.

"Are you okay, love? You don't look so good…" he asked, sounding very concerned.

I looked in the mirror; I super pale, not that I wasn't normally but a lot paler than usual, and on top of that, my scars were a bright reddish-pink. He was right, I looked terrible.

I answered quickly, "A nightmare, that's all…"

"If you don't mind me asking, what was it about?" He stared into my eyes like he was trying to get me to tell him the truth and not the lie I was about to tell.

I opened my mouth but no words came out. I was lost in Brian's eyes. I suddenly saw flashes of the nightmare.

_Brian__ held up my magnum with a sinister smile._

I came back to reality. I was frozen, still hypnotized by his eyes. His mouth was moving but I couldn't hear what he was saying. My ears rang with the sound of a gunshot. I backed away from Brian because I had some strange feeling that Zacky was going to pop out of nowhere and hand Brian that magnum. I kept scooting back on my bed away from him until heard a _thunk, _that made me almost fall off the bed but I was caught at the last second by him.

He pulled me into his lap, cradling me in his arms and stroking my throbbing head.

"Are you okay, love?" he whispered, his lips almost touching my ear. "Why are you so afraid of me?"

I stayed silent; if I told him he'd think I was crazy and besides, he probably had no idea who Zack was anyway. I figured I could blame my lack of answer on the pain; it technically was true, my head throbbed, my body ached, and my wrist felt like it'd just been snapped again.

"Is it your head that hurts?" he asked softly.

"No," I said through clenched teeth, "My wrist…"

Brian motioned for me to let him see it. He gently unwrapped the bandages, but he almost let me fall out of his lap when he saw my wrist, which was a sign it was that bad.

He cursed under his breath and said, "What did you do?"

I winced at the sight of it; my wrist was covered in dark bluish-blackish bruises.

"Dannyy said the bones were completely shattered in the accident," I said softly.

Brian stood up, and bridal-style carried me out of my room. I tried to wiggle my way out, but he just held me tighter.

"Where are we going?" I asked, kind of frustrated; not because he was carrying me, but because he was over reacting, or at least I thought he was.

"To my mom," He pushed the elevator button and the door opened immediately.

"I'm fine, Brian," I pleaded, "It's nothing, seriously… All I need to do is take a little walk get some fresh air, you know? Speaking of walking, I can walk; you can put me down."

Brian gently lowered me to the floor. We stood there in silence, but I knew what he was thinking even if I couldn't read his mind in this world. It was something along the lines of:

_Nikki,__ Nikki, Nikki… she really thinks she can just walk off a possibly broken wrist? I wish she would understand that I'm doing this because I care about her…_

The elevator finally came to the ground floor. I sped up my pace hoping to escape from Brian but knowing instantly that this is a race I'd lose. I half ran out the door, knowing that he was a step behind me.

It was dusk out and the cool evening air felt so good against my aching body. I hadn't made it very far before I heard a guy yell to Brian, "Why the hell are you chasing my girl!"

"Who the hell are you?" I yelled back as I whipped around to see who said it. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw him. Zacky Baker, Brian's worst enemy and my worst nightmare, stood right in front of me.

He was furious, "Are you fucking cheating on me?"

"What are you talking about, Zack? I was never _with_ you!" I screamed.

Zack took a step forward and I pushed Brian behind me. It seemed strange for me, the girl, protecting Brian, the guy, but whatever I knew Zack was going to do something I just didn't know what.

He lowered his tone. "Oh, yeah, that's right… You don't remember anything…" He paused and cracked his knuckles. "Maybe I could beat a little of you memory back into you…"

Zack threw the first punch but it was easily dodged. I took the opportunity to punch him in the stomach. He folded over, I ignored the pain that shot through my hand, grabbed a hand full of his hair and slammed my knee into his face multiple times. I let go of him and watched him fall onto the concrete. I turned back to Brian and motioned for us to started walking and leave Zack. We heard grunts and groans from behind; I ignored it while Brian kept glancing back.

"Nikki!" Brian yelled as a fist flew by my cheek but still missed me. I grabbed Zack's arm and threw him as hard as I could.

"Where'd you learn to fight like that?" Brian asked, excitedly.

We walked away toward the park, and the pain I'd been suppressing throughout the fight, finally came through. I pressed my hand against my stomach and answered, through gritted teeth, "You're gonna think I'm crazy but you were the one who taught me how to flip someone like that…"

I sat down on a swing and he took the one next to me.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "I've never taught you anything about fighting."

"If I tell you, do you promise not to think I'm insane?"

Brian nodded.

"Where do I start?" I asked myself. "Well, I guess you could say I'm from a 'different' world. I don't know anything about this world because all my memories are from my 'other' world. In that world, I met you when I was 11 and, you aren't gonna believe this but, we were assassins and you were my partner. We fell in love and you asked me to marry you on your 17th birthday. I said yes, obviously, but then less than a month later you and Dannyy's boyfriend, Matt, were sent off to fight in the war, which we kinda caused. Six months later Matt came home and told me that you had died. But then I got a mysterious phone call from you telling me to met you somewhere so I showed up and you… kinda… killed… me…"

'You kinda killed me…' what was I thinking telling him that?

Brian was shocked; he probably didn't see that twist coming at all. I continued, trying to ignore the fact that I just told him my whole life story, "Well the point is '_this_' world feels like a dream to me because I have no memory of it…"

Brian stared up at the now visible stars. "The real reason I moved out here is because you. I knew you before the accident. And you once told me: 'This isn't who you are, Brian. I know deep down in your heart you know this is a lie. You're not happy here, even I can see it. Get away from here, and be yourself, I don't mind if you leave me behind, just wake up from this nightmare. Be happy and I'll be happy too.' So, love, you just gotta wake up… Just wake up…"

I looked at him confused. "I want to, Bri, but…"

I got up off the swing and walked forward toward the grass. I felt Brian's arms wrap around me, pulling me close to him.

"No 'buts,' love," he whispered, "But before you go, promise me something…"

I turned around in his arms so that I could face him. I looked up at him, seeing the deep sadness in his eyes. I couldn't stand to see it anymore so I pressed my forehead against his strong chest. "Anything, Brian…"

"Don't ever leave me," he whispered in to my ear.

Wishing I could stay in his arms forever, I stood on my tippy toes, now barely tall enough to reach his lips, and gently kissed him.

He broke our lip lock when he softly repeated the words, "Wake up," over and over again.


	4. Chapter 3: foREVer

**Chapter 2**

**foREVer**

"Fine, Jimmy, I'll tell her the truth when she wakes up," Dannyy said, sounding a bit angry.

I opened my eyes to a bright room, blinked a few times to clear the blurriness, and finally saw Dannyy, sitting in a chair looking very pissed off, and Jimmy standing next to her, flipping through _Betrayed_.

"Tell me what?" I asked, my voice sounding very rough from not being used in a while.

Dannyy rubbed her temples and muttered something about Jimmy being stupid for making her explain. "Jimmy's gonna explain… not me!" she said, glaring at him.

Jimmy sighed. "Fine… but first things first; how do you feel? Does anything hurt?" he asked, sounded just like Brian when he'd worry about me.

"I'm numb all over so I can't really feel anything; I am having a hard time breathing but I'm fine, Jimmy," I hoped that might reassure him, but I knew it didn't. "So, anyway, what's going on?"

He glanced at _Betrayed_ and then at Dannyy, wondering where to start.

Finally finding the right words, he said, "I'm surprised you never noticed; well, first let me tell you who wrote this book; Evan Sullivan, my brother. But there was something special about my brother. He could see other people's futures, I guess you say, clairvoyant, and he wrote this book about one of the futures he saw. 14 years ago, when we I was 12 and he was 13, he saw the future of a girl he had never met before. She had a very interesting future and he wrote down everything he saw. He eventually turned it into a book, but he never got to finish it. The last thing he wrote was about the girl being betrayed by the man she loved. He said the girl died by the blade of her soon-to-be-husband. But anyway, the point is, that book is about you, Nikki. It was your future he saw. Everything that happens in this book has happened in your life. I'm surprised you never noticed that." He paused. "But what I don't understand is that Evan said that Brian killed you… but you're still alive, which is great, but Evan's never wrong…" Jimmy trailed off.

Dannyy elbowed Jimmy in the ribs. "What your idiot-captain is trying to say is we're happy you're alive and all but we're worried about what's going to happen since the future changed. We're completely in the dark for the first time in 6 years so we're really afraid of what might happen," she said glaring at Jimmy.

"So why'd you guys finally decide to tell me now, why not 6 years ago?" I asked feeling a little left out.

Jimmy rubbed his ribs in the spot where Dannyy had just hit him. "Because… I think you've heard my boss say something say something along the lines of: 'You know very well what happens when you mess with the future', right? Yeah, well what he means is when you try to prevent something that you know is going to happen, something worse will happen. It's the reason Evan was killed. He knew something bad was going to happen that day, and I thought I could stop it by leaving him behind. But instead something worse happened. It would've been the same if you knew all this was going to happen and tried to prevent it."

"So… what… now?" I said slowly, finally realizing how hard it was to breathe.

"We gotta figure out why Brian did it," Jimmy answered and then added quickly, "I don't think he did it out of his own free will."

The strange dream of Zack and Brian came to mind and I finally realized what it meant. "Zack's behind it…"

Danny blurted out, "Hold up… You mean Zack Baker from the 'Assassin Ball'? How would he have anything to do with this?"

"He wants revenge…" The answer came out so quick I didn't have the time to find the evidence to prove it.

"Revenge for what? It's not like we did anything to him."

Jimmy answered before I could, which was great because it wouldn't convince Dannyy if I said it was a dream I had. "We messed up his plans, by half completing our assignment. His mission was to sabotage our assassination and take out as many of us as he could. Did he do either? Well, he almost got Nikki but other than that he completely failed thanks to Brian. So now, he's trying to get revenge on both Nikki and Brian by forcing, possibly through mind control, Brian to kill her. Make any sense?" Jimmy spoke so fast it was hard for me to understand him and it made me wonder if she did at all.

Dannyy's face was blank. "What do we do about it?" she asked, still confused.

"First things first," Jimmy said, messing with his gun for no apparent reason, "Did he do it out of his own free will or is Zack controlling him?"

In an attempt to save my breath for screaming at Brian, I tried talking through thought, knowing that Jimmy and Dannyy could hear it.

_I'll do it_, I thought, but the second I did I knew the answer I'd get is 'What the hell are you thinking?'

"What are you talking about?" Dannyy asked, confused as always.

Jimmy answered before I could. "She thinks she can take care of Zack and Brian today, I'm guessing."

I nodded and started to pull the IV out of my arm. Jimmy tried to stop me but I teleported before he could.

I opened my eyes, hoping I had made it to my room, but then suddenly falling. The impact wasn't too bad since I landed on my bed. I laid there for a few minutes, writhing in pain. Finally the pain receded, a little, or at least enough for me to be able to move. I pushed myself up and stared at my lap, finally noticing that my wrist was bandaged just like in my dream. It really made me wonder if that dream meant anything or not. I mean, what was that world? Does something like that really exist somewhere? A place where there is no such thing as assassins and kids actually go to school to learn normal things, like math and language, not how to fight and kill. The problem is I don't think I could live like that. I'm so used to killing for a living, I can't be normal, none of us can.

I'd been so deep in thought that I completely momentarily forgot what I was supposed to be doing. I sat up slowly, trying not to hurt myself since I wasn't numb from pain killers anymore.

As I changed into jeans and white t-shirt, I listened to Jimmy and Dannyy's conversation about me.

_Are you really just going to let her go after him in her condition? I mean she can barely move_, Jimmy asked, sounding very worried.

Even though I couldn't see Dannyy I could tell she was smiling. _Give her ten minutes, she'll be back. And it might even be Brian bringing her back._

_What do you mean by 'she'll be back'?_

_She's gonna end up doing what she always does… ripping her stitches. Brian'll bring her back, bleeding to death; as bad as that sound coming from her sister, but even you know it's gonna happen._

Finally, I finished changing I had to contact Jimmy through telepathy.

_Where do I find Brian? _I asked, since I knew Jimmy could find him.

_Simple, you remember that church were you had the big fight with Zack? Yeah, he's there… Oh, and one other thing… Don't die, okay?_

I grabbed the magnum I'd just un-jammed a few days ago and teleported. I opened my eyes to see the church fully restored; it looked exactly the same as before the fight took place. The stained glass windows fixed from being shattered. The place looked like nothing had ever happened there. I leaned against the pew for support, knowing that my legs were going to give any minute.

Zack stood in the isle, looking very pissed off, with Brian kneeling in front of him.

"What the hell?" Zack yelled as he kicked Brian in the face. "You have to pay for what you did! Thanks to you, I failed my assignment a second time. I had you do something so simple… _Kill Nikki_. You even had me controlling you and you couldn't do it! How hard can it be?"

Brian tried to get up while mumbling, "I won't kill her! You can't make me!"

Zack rolled his eyes, and kicked Brian, again. "You can't resist my control! She _will_ die!" He was about to kick Brian another time.

I held up my gun to his head. "You're the one who's gonna die!" I pulled the trigger, but Zack had disappeared. There was a loud crash of one of the newly replaced stained-glass window shattering. I felt a cold blade against my throat.

"Wrong move, beautiful!" he whispered into my ear. He pressed the blade harder, and I felt warm blood run down my neck. He let out a small chuckle as I struggled to break free.

"Drop the gun," he commanded. I dropped it, just like he said, but it landed on his foot.

"What the hell are you thinking, doing that, sweetheart? You do know that I can kill you right here and now!" he yelled. "If my hand moves even the tiniest bit, you die!" He paused and looked at Brian, who was still on the ground. "Now you have to watch her die because you couldn't kill her yourself… and trust me I won't make it quick, it's going to be _slow_ and _painful_ just because of you, Brian!"

He took the blade away from my neck and slowly licked some of the blood off it. "Hmm… where to start?" he asked himself.

_Help me, Bri!_ I thought as hard as I could hoping he hear it.

Brian jumped to his feet, grabbed the magnum, and pulled the trigger, all in one motion. Zack fell, lifeless, to the floor.

Brian's facial expression changed from shock to sadness. I stepped over the Zack's dead body and Brian dropped my gun.

"I'm sorry, love," he said softly. He stood with open arms, waiting for me to lean into them.

I moved towards him and slapped him as hard as I could. I looked up at Brian; his cheek was bright red from the hit and a small scratch from my engagement ring there too.

I fell into his arms and buried my face against his chest. Tears were running down my face.

"Don't make me worry like that, you big idiot," I said half-laughing as a pounded my fist against his chest.

"I'm sorry, love…" he repeated.

I was with the man I love who I hadn't seen in almost half year, but still something didn't feel right. My chest felt hot, almost like it was burning. It was really hard to breathe. I wheezed into Brian's chest; he held me tight. His hand moved up from the small of my back almost to my shoulder blades. He let go of me and took a step back with a horrified look on his face.

He held out his hands, "Nikki, you're… bleeding!"

"Yeah, I know," I said, touching my stinging throat.

"No, look at your shirt!"

I looked down at my once white shirt which was now soaked with blood. I glance up at Brian, my knee buckled under me, and everything went black; but I could still hear Brian panicking, "Nikki! Nikki! Damn it, Nikki, breathe…!"

I opened my eyes to the same bright room as before. Everything was blurry and I felt so drowsy and lightheaded. It made me wonder if everything that happened- Brian betraying, and all- was all a dream and that that non-assassin world.

It took a few seconds but my eyes finally went into focus. Brian was sitting in the chair, reading _Betrayed_ and holding my hand. I gave his hand a little squeeze, but I didn't know if he felt it because of how weak it was. He stroked the back of my hand with his thumb.

"I hate to say it but it wasn't a dream, or at least the part about me betraying, yeah, that wasn't; but whatever that 'other world' is, I think that's a dream," he said.

How did he know what I was thinking?

He smiled, not looking up from the book, "I always know what you're thinking." He looked up at me, "I'm really sorry, love…"

"For what?" I asked but my voice was muffled by the oxygen mask. Stupid mask… in my way. I removed the mask and repeated the question. Brian took the mask out of my hand and put it back on me.

"For everything…" he said. "Jimmy explained everything about _Betrayed _and I've been reading it. The guy I am in the book; I can't stand him; in other words, I can't stand myself. Am I really like that? Did I really do that to you? It's my fault you're here! It's always my fault you're here…"

If I could've slapped him right then and there, I would've… but I couldn't.

"And Dannyy calls me the stupid one." I mumbled. "For one thing, this whole thing is Zack's fault because he sabotaged our mission, we failed, and the war started. And for the second thing: I don't get what you mean when you say 'Am I really like that'? He is the nicest guy and the sweetest boyfriend ever. And since he _is_ you, that means _you're_ the nicest guy and sweetest boyfriend ever. And besides, you are the one that saved me, yet again."

Brian blushed. "With that said…" He got out of his chair and knelt down next to my bed. Taking my hand in his, he asked, "Nikki, my Beautiful Assassin, in spite of all that's happen, will you still marry me?"

"Could I ever say no to you, Bri?" I asked smiling.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too."

I laced my fingers in his and yawned.

"If you tired then you should sleep," he whispered, sitting back down in his chair but still holding my hand.

I pouted. "But I don't wanna…" I sounded like a little kid.

He ran his thumb over my still bandaged hand. "Jimmy told me to tell you we have the next couple months, which will give you the time to recover from my stupidity… So, really, if you're tired you should sleep."

I pouted at him, knowing that if I went to sleep then he would leave.

He stood up. "Don't worry, love, I won't leave. I'll be here when you wake up." He leaned over and kissed my forehead. Then he kissed my nose and then finally my lips; then he put the oxygen mask back on me.

He whispered, "Good night, baby. I love you."

He sat back down in the chair. I closed my eyes and I felt Brian's warm hand holding mine. And then I felt myself drift away.


End file.
